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a few questions

Hey there! So I'm putting the 2.6 motor back in my 88. Finally! But I'm having trouble getting the tranny hooked back up to the block and lined up with the mount holes. Any body have a trick or something they use to get this all lined up? Secondly what are the size of 87-88 head light housings? 6x7? Lastly I was looking around and saw some of us putting LED dash lights in. Where could I aquire these? Thanks!

If not and you just installed the clutch plate without the tool then your spline gears are not meshing. Another problem could be the pilot bearing on the end of the spline shaft. This bearing should be fitted to check for correct size. If by chance the pilot bearing is installed wrong it will make noise and fail in a short time.
One way to bring the trany and block together is not recommended as written in the manual, but sometimes it needs to be done to pull them together. Once you get the 2 parts close enough to get the guide bolts in. (Two bolt holes that have the sleeves installed). Install the 2 bolts into their respected holes and draw them together evenly from under the vehicle is usually best. Sometimes the 2 parts are a tight fit and having the bolts started helps line them up. Be damn sure they are lining up though because this way of doing it could result in ruining the pilot bearing. You usually can hear a click or a sort of pop sound when the the trany and block mate correctly just shy of complete mating.

Headlight housing are all generic and will fit in the case of the single headlight on one side. (The double headlight system or the 4 headlight fronts of the older D50 type are smaller housing.

As for led light systems, I think that there just like a regular bulb replacement since they should have the voltage drop transistor already installed in them. If you like to dim your dash lights be sure you purchase ones that can do this. Some led are either on or off and dimming is null. Though it has been a while since I have looked into these conversions and progress moves so fast that they probably have dimmer ability, just something to think about.
Check on ebay for lights, again these are very generic in design and if different they will usually just be a brighter or slight difference in voltage.(usually nothing to worry about as long as the base of the receptacle is the same you should be ok.

Wheel spacers are used and I have heard folks using them. Though it may work on your wheel bearings a little harder in some cases. Might be better off with offsetting rims if you want a particular look.

The problem I run into putting a tranny back in is the trans wants to turn downward because of the transfer case weight, it's easier with one guy pushing up and wiggling the bell housing and a guy at the tail shaft wiggles the back of the trans. Always use a pilot tool like brad said above just makes it easier.
I change the pilot bearing in mine and noticed before I installed it that it was an Alt bearing and the center was too small for the pilot shaft end to go into it! Got lucky there!

I used the tool and have it lined up it just doesn't want to seem to mate. Maybe have about 5/8 of an inch before bell housing is concealing the flywheel. I ask about the headlights because I want to go LED. Would be a huge benefit. And the dash isn't bright enough. I will look into the dash lights first.

next time put a little grease on the end of the input shaft and be sure the part that goes into the pilot bearing is clean - I had a temp tranny I went to put into geronimo and didn't check the input shaft and the tranny got stuck half way into the pilot bearing and when I went to pull the tranny back, the bearing came out of the flywheel. Had to unbolt the pressure plate to get the whole thing out and get the bearing off the shaft. Good thing I had the truck up on my buddies lift and he was there to help.

Pennyman1
The best Dodge that Dodge never made
Living the D-50 lifestyle since 1980